The present invention relates to a therapeutic system comprising a medical applicator to be inserted into a living body and an observation means such as an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) apparatus.
Generally, a therapeutic system comprises a medical applicator such as a high-frequency instrument and an observation means such as an MRI apparatus. Before the medical applicator is inserted into a patient, the affected tissue within the patient, to which the applicator should be guided, is detected by the observation means. The medical applicator is inserted into the patient and guided to the affected tissue. The applicator is operated, thereby effectively performing high-frequency treatment on the affected tissue.
In the conventional medical system, the applicator and the observation means are driven independently of each other. To drive the applicator and the observation means at the same time, they must be simultaneously controlled, while being observed. Simultaneous control of the medical applicator and the observation means is troublesome.
To make matters worse, the noise in the electro-magnetic waves emitted from the applicator may distort the image generated by the observation means (e.g., MRI device). The image of the affected tissue may be also distorted to become unclear, while high-frequency waves are applied to the affected tissue.
The present invention has been made in view of the foregoing. Its object is to provide a therapeutic system in which the medical applicator and the observation means (e.g., MRI apparatus) can be easily operated at the same time and in which the image generated by the observation means remains clear all the time the medical applicator is used.
To achieve the object, a therapeutic system according to the invention comprises: a therapeutic applicator adapted to be inserted into a body cavity, for applying therapeutic energy to treat living tissues present in the body cavity; observation means for indicating a position which the therapeutic applicator takes in the body cavity; and control means for controlling the therapeutic energy applied from the therapeutic applicator to the living tissues, on the basis of data representing the position which the therapeutic applicator takes in the body cavity.
During the therapy, the observation means for indicates the position the therapeutic applicator takes in the body cavity. The control means controls the therapeutic energy applied from the applicator to the living tissues, in accordance with the data representing the position of the applicator.
Hence, it is easy to operate the system even if the applicator and the observation unit (e.g., an MRI apparatus) are used at the same time. The image of the living tissues remains clear during the use of the therapeutic applicator.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.